Ford Focus RS: Averaging 500+ Units Sold per Month

For many moons, there has been some variation of the Ford Focus RS sold in markets outside of North America, but starting in the summer or 2016, the Focus RS was finally available through American Ford dealerships. With 350 EcoBoost horsepower, the Focus RS is the most powerful small car ever offered by the Motor Company in the US market, with the Mustang and the GT supercar being the only other cars offered in the modern era of the automobile with more power than this ultra-hot hatch.

Even with the fact that the American sport compact market had long been waiting for the Focus RS, some critics of the high performance 5-door insisted that it wouldn’t sell well enough to justify the costs of bringing it from Europe.

Fortunately, those critics have been silenced, as Ford has sold more than 3,500 examples of the Focus RS since it went on sale last summer – leading to a monthly sales volume averaging better than 500 units per month over the course of the first 7 months of sales. Based on the average of 500 per month, Ford sold around 2,500 Focus RS hatchbacks by the end of 2016. For comparison, General Motors sold 3,013 examples of the Chevrolet SS sport sedan during all of 2016.

“Sales momentum for the Focus RS has been incredible in the U.S. for the first six months,” said Jessica Bishop, Focus marketing manager, Ford North America. “Uniquely for a performance vehicle, we haven’t seen any sales decline during the winter months, but rather customer interest has picked up thanks to AWD availability.”

Focus RS Sales Facts
In addition to a rough number of Focus RS hatchbacks sold since last summer, the Motor Company offered up a few other statistics on the early sales of this AWD turbocharged monster.

First up, the Ford Focus RS has proven to be most popular in California, with 627 examples of the hot hatch sold there. Michigan was next in line with 256 units sold, Texas was third with 244 units sold, Florida was fifth with 230 and Pennsylvania was fifth in Focus RS sales with 192 units sold. Those five states account for a total of 1,549 examples of the Focus RS, or about 44% of Focus RS sales thus far. The geographic popularity is interesting, as we see some people buying the car purely for its performance capabilities in warm, snow-free regions like California, Texas and Florida while buyers in Michigan and Pennsylvania are likely interested in the performance and the ability to handle snowy roads.

Next, while some critics scoffed at the $36k base price, it seems as though cost hasn’t been much of a concern for Focus RS buyers. The average transaction price for the Focus RS so far is $42,351, so on average, buyers are tacking on more than $6,000 in options on top of that $36k base price.

Speaking of options, the RS2 package for the Ford Focus RS has proven to be one of the most popular upgrades, with 62% of buyers checking this box. For $2,785, US Focus RS buyers get leather trimmed Recaro seats with 8-way power adjustment on the driver’s seat, heated exterior mirrors, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and Ford’s Voice Activated Navigation system.

Finally, Ford points out that Stealth Gray is the most-popular color among American Focus RS buyers, with 32% picking this incognito hue. Nitrous Blue (shown above) is second with a 30% take rate, Shadow Black was third with 20% and Frozen White was fourth with an 18% take rate.